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It’s January and that means that its time for the annual three day extravaganza of world premieres that is the Detroit Auto Show. Dozens of production and concept vehicles will be vying for the attention of the gathered throngs of journalists that make the trek to the Motor City from all corners of the globe. This year’s Detroit show press days run from Sunday, Jan. 13, through Tuesday, Jan. 15.

As in years past, the Detroit Three will be hogging much of the limelight, with center stage likely going to Ford and Dodge, as both will be rolling out all-new versions of their iconic F-150 and Ram trucks. In addition, Chrysler will be showing off a troika of eco-friendly concepts, GM will roll officially roll out its monster Corvette ZR1 and the V version of the CTS, along with a smattering of green machines including Saturn Vue Green Line Two Mode. Ford will also showcase the possible future of the Explorer with the Explorer America Concept.

Notable debuts from Asia include the production version of the HyundaiGenesis sedan, Nissan‘s FORUM concept, a crossover sedan from Toyota called Venza, a prototype of the next-generation Honda Pilot and Mazda‘s Furai race car. The Germans are also bringing plenty of sheetmetal from Europe, including the first ever U.S.-bound BMW diesels, the Baby Benz GLK ute, performance-themed Audis and a special Volkswagen Passat.

The Chinese are coming to Detroit again too, and this time in greater numbers. Five Chinese automakers in all will be present in Detroit. Making repeat appearances are Geely (2006) and Changfeng (2007). The three newcomers are BYD Auto, Chamco, and Li Shi Guang Ming. BYD is best known for its Brilliance sedan, which infamously failed Euro NCAP tests, Chamco is the American operation for a company called Zhongxing, headed by Steve Saleen, and Li Shi Guang Ming is a small purveyor of small electric cars.

Surprisingly, styling changes for the 2009 Ford F-150 seem to be fairly subtle. A revised hood, grille (clearly reminiscent of the Ford Edge crossover), front bumper, and new lighting front and rear are all present, and the fenders display a crease that follows the flared wheel arches — an interesting design touch. A new side trim strip adorns the side of this F-150 prototype and the mirrors have changed too, with a more streamlined shape.

This is it. The fastest, most powerful Cadillac ever built. The fastest, most powerful American sedan in history, for that matter. Locked, loaded, and gunning for Europe’s heavy-hitting sport sedans-BMW M5, Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, Audi RS6. Read all that again. Now pinch yourself. No, you’re not dreaming. Motown-well, GM at least-has its mojo back. Meet Cadillac’s monster new CTS-V. Cadzilla, if you will.Here are the raw numbers: 550 horsepower at 6200 rpm. 550 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm. They’re only official “estimates,” but as the engine under the new CTS-V’s power-domed hood is fundamentally the same as the supercharged V-8 that’s credited with 620-plus horsepower and at least 600 pound-feet in the hot new Corvette ZR1, you can safely assume the real SAE-certified figures will be close. “I’m confident we’ll disappoint nobody with the numbers,” says Ed Piatek, the CTS-V’s program engineering manager.

There are no performance figures yet, but by way of context, AMG’s E63 Benz nails 60 mph in 4.3 seconds. The new CTS-V weighs about the same and has at least 43 more horses and 85 pound-feet more torque. Draw your own conclusions: The car also has been extensively tested on the legendary Nrburgring Nordschliefe, and while insiders are tight-lipped on the actual lap time-for now-they will admit Cadzilla has terrorized factory hotshoes from Munich out on the daunting 13-mile road course. “People who’ve never been passed by a Cadillac have now had that experience,” smiles Piatek.

Asked the question, “Why do a ZR1?” Corvette Vehicle Line executive Tom Wallace shoots back, “Because we can. We have the technology inside General Motors to do a car that can go up against any supercar from around the world,” he continues, punctuating the thought with this threat: “I can’t wait to take on any Porsche with this car, and we’re going to be right in there with the Ferrari [599s] and Lamborghini [Murcielagos].” Whoa, ease off the Red Bull, Tom. This is a just a souped-up C6 Corvette, right? Or did you slip a mid-engine V-12 in without the blogosphere noticing?

An hour with chief engineer Tadge Juechter reveals that this is indeed a Z06 upgraded with the best tech in GM’s arsenal. A ZR1 was never part of the original C6 plan, but, at an early program review, the Z06’s proposed aluminum frame, carbon-fiber parts, and LS7 engine so impressed CEO Rick Wagoner that he reportedly wondered aloud, “Geez, if that’s what you can do with $60,000, I wonder what a $100,000 Corvette would look like?” With no more formal authorization than that, Juechter’s posse launched a skunkworks effort dubbed “Blue Devil” — a nod to the boss’s Duke alma mater.They started with turbochargers for efficiency’s sake, but switched to supercharging when Eaton unveiled its latest four-lobe Roots-type blower. This new unit boasts thermal efficiency of nearly 76 percent (up from some 60 in the best three-lobe blowers) — near turbo efficiency with no lag.

Cadillac is about to become General Motors’s technology leader. The parent company undoubtedly figured it should do that when accounting for the costs of the 2011 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. You can absorb more cost with the sticker price of a Caddy, and besides, there’s that old tradition of trickle-down.

Provoq rides on GM’s E-Flex architecture and features a hybrid electric/hydrogen-fuel-cell drivetrain featuring a 70kW front motor and two 30kW rear motors. Cadillac says it’ll do 0-to-60 mph in 8.5 seconds, top out at 100 mph, and run for 280 miles between hydrogen fill-ups. Its thermostatically controlled Sixteen concept-style grille opens only when the fuel stack needs cooling. Talk about Art & Science. It has a full belly pan, a large rear spoiler, six-spoke wheels with polycarbonate fillers, pop-out door handles, and mirrors that are as small as possible, like the grille, for best-possible aero.

Designer Franz von Holzhausen says it’s supposed to look like streamers fluttering in the wind. It’s the fifth concept in Mazda’s Nagare (flow) series and the visual realization of zoom zoom. If you say so, Franz.

Furai’s a concept that’s breathtakingly simple on paper, yet fiendishly complicated in execution: “Let’s take a full race chassis and drop a concept-car body on top.”

Of course, there’s more to it than that — you need an engine, in this case a 458-horsepower, triple-rotor race-ready unit running on pure ethanol (E100) — the first rotary to do so. Mazda refers to the rotary/ethanol combo as sustainable zoom zoom.

If it doesn’t impress you that Hyundai is about to bring its first rear-drive sedan to the U.S., starting under $30,000 and rising to $36,000 to $40,000-plus with the optional all-aluminum V-8, think of General Motors and Ford. Think of what GM is going through to bring sub-Cadillac rear-drive sedans back to the market. Of how Ford Motor Company doesn’t have the cash to develop one.

Standard engine is the 242-horsepower, 3.3-liter. Next step up is the 3.8-liter, tweaked to nearly 300 horsepower. Hyundai’s first V-8 in the U.S. will be the new Tau 4.6-liter V-8 option in this car, making close to 375 horses, probably with a similar torque number. The V-6s will come with a standard five-speed automatic, but the Tau gets a new ZF six-speed automatic with Shiftronic manual control.

Audi’s philosophy is “advancement through technology” and that’s not something found lacking in the TTS. The engine is based on the highly-revered 2.0-liter, four-cylinder, turbocharged TSFI unit. Featuring direct injection, the powerplant contains a host of modifications over the standard motor (as installed the {{{Volkswagen GTI}}}, among other vehicles), including a beefier engine block, cylinder heads, and connecting rods. The turbocharger is new too — able to produce up to 1.2 bar of air pressure — and intake and exhaust systems have been optimized for both increased performance and increased aural delight. A revised intercooler lowers the temperature of the intake charge to maximize the amount of air flowing into the engine.

The result is a whopping 72-horsepower and 51-lb-ft increase over the standard 2.0 TSFI unit, for a total of 272 horses and 258 lb-ft of torque. All that power is sent through Audi’s Quattro four-wheel drive to each wheel, resulting in a 5.2 second 0 to 62 mph dash (the Roadster lags just 0.2 seconds behind due to its slightly less aerodynamic profile). Keep the throttle pegged and the TTS’ computer will stop you at a top speed of 155 mph whether your roof goes down or not. The TTS will only be available in the U.S. with Audi’s version of the dual-clutch DSG transmission, the S tronic. But fear not, Audi claims that transmission provides for faster acceleration times than the manual box that’s standard in Europe.

We’re getting small and green and moving away from big, body-on-frame V-8 sport/utilities to more compact crossovers. So it’s with a good deal of trepidation that Kia enters the segment late this summer with its first V-8 model for North America, a body-on-frame, seven-passenger sport/utility called the Borrego.

It’s the same V-8 lurking under the hood of Hyundai’s new Genesis, a 4.6-liter engine expected to make about 375 horses. That’s a healthy number for this brand. Kia says it’ll bring the new Hyundai V-8 here first, though given what Hyundai says about the Genesis’s on-sale date, it looks like a dead-heat. And therein lies the issue: timing. When Kia began developing the Borrego some four years ago, gas was under $2 per gallon and automakers were still touting the sustainability of the big truck boom. Kia was working on the Borrego about the same time that Toyota was developing its all-new, bigger-than-ever Sequoia.

How might the new slant-nosed face of Mitsubishi translate onto a coupe like, say for argument, the new Eclipse? About like this Concept RA. Terrific looking in the flesh, the two-seat concept’s cockpit is thrust forward as though the engine were mid-mounted. But to leave no doubt about where to look for the engine, it shows through what is not a hood. Fluid fill caps are also in view in the blackened hood area. The engine is part of the story, too, as it makes the Concept RA the second high-performance diesel sports car unveiled today. This 2.4-liter DOHC 16-valve engine with MIVEC variable valve timing produces 201 hp and an impressive 310 pound-feet of torque–plenty to keep all four wheels scrabbling at the pavement via the Evo’s Super All-Wheel Control system. Some more pie-in-the-sky features are the Concept RA’s aluminum space frame, recycled plastic body panels, scissor doors, and wild dash. Gotta sell the sizzle with the steak.

Toyota returns to its compact-truck roots with its latest concept vehicle, the A-BAT (Advanced Breakthrough Aero Truck). The A-BAT uses a hybrid powertrain reported to provide modern versatility, roominess, and style for a new kind of buyer.

“Driving from the suburbs to the city is a way of life for many people,” says Kevin Hunter, president, Calty Design Research, Inc. “We’ve taken Toyota’s truck heritage to a different level by envisioning a vehicle capable of maneuvering the suburbs as well as dirt roads. This compact truck is as comfortable for long commutes as it is for road trips. It can accommodate outdoor toys and home-improvement supplies. Plus, customers benefit from the hybrid powertrain’s low emissions and fuel economy.”

Honda says the prototype shows off the bolder and more SUV-like styling of next-generation Pilot, an innovative interior design, along with a number of advanced safety, fuel efficiency, and convenience technologies.

The 9-4x will be built on a new version of an existing platform called “Premium Theta.” Regular Theta underpins the Chevy Equinox, Pontiac Torrent, Suzuki XL-7, Saturn Vue, and Opel Antara. Saab will share Premium Theta with the 2010 Cadillac BRX, and both will be two-row-only crossovers. It gives Saab an SUV it can sell against BMW X3, Infiniti EX35 and others of that ilk, including Volvo‘s upcoming XC60.

The Saab Premium Theta will stand out for its Aero X concept-inspired three-hole grille and sculptured hood, wraparound windshield, fuselage side surfacing, and signature Saab 900-inspired C-pillar. It also features a ski-equipment storage system designed with partner Salomon and, of course, the ignition key on the floor. Saab stylists referenced ice sculpture and Swedish design icon Hasselblad cameras for the 9-4x.

All that seems to separate the Vision GLK from the spied vehicle are its 20-inch wheels the concept’s off-color cladding that we can only hope won’t be a production feature — even GM has given that up. The vehicle is powered by a 170-horsepower, 2.2-liter four-cylinder diesel engine featuring the automaker’s Bluetec emissions-reducing technology.

When the production GLK arrives, it will reportedly come with two gas engine options, both of which are available on the C-Class (the vehicle is said to be based on a C-Class wagon), a 228-horspower 3.0-liter and a 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V-6. A diesel option along the lines of what powers the concept will likely arrive later, although no official announcement has been made. Mercedes claims the five-passenger SUV will be as off-road capable as its ML-Class, thanks largely to a new 4matic all-wheel-drive system.

Ford’s Explorer America concept — a possible future vision of what Ford’s fallen SUV king could become — will be revealed to the world at the upcoming 2008 Detroit Auto Show. Ford says the forward-looking concept was designed to address the changes in the SUV market over the past 15 years, from rugged off-roaders to civilized suburban people haulers.

The concept is also a demonstration platform of sorts for Ford’s new EcoBoost family of engines. Formerly known as TwinForce (and seen at last year’s Detroit show in the Lincoln MKR Concept), the EcoBoost engines provide the power of larger engines while achieving 20-30 percent gains in fuel-economy, according to the automaker. Initially, this family will consist of a 2.0-liter inline-four making 275 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque, and a 3.5-liter V-6 expected to make some 340 horsepower and over 340 lb-ft of torque.

The FORUM is designed in consideration of the needs of adults in the front and children in the back — to be easy for Mom and Dad to drive, while simultaneously keeping control of activity in the back. Rear-seat cameras, dubbed “Kid’s Cam,” monitor the behavior of the occupants and display it to the driver, while a “Time Out” button on the steering wheel allows all audio to be muted and the driver’s voice to be broadcasted throughout the car. A console-mounted microwave is large enough to nuke a bag of popcorn and is accessible to the first and second rows, and the single-dial Bose Media System allows for all audio, video, navigation, and hands-free phone use, along with hard-drive storage of digital media files.

In the back of the vehicle, the entire second-row seating arrangement is able to rotate a full 180 degrees to face the third-row passengers, and individual monitors are built in for movies or video games. Every seat in the FORUM features individual audio programming, allowing each passenger to listen to a different type of music. A Bose FreeSpace audio system integrates speakers and a wireless media player into the vehicle’s exterior for audio entertainment outside the vehicle. Shag carpeting covers the interior floor for an elegant look.

At 171 inches long, the HX is shorter than the H3. Its 3.6-liter direct-injected V-6 (which is making the rounds in multiple GM vehicles) is tuned make 304 horsepower and 273 lb-ft of torque — more than the H3’s I-5 — and is E85 capable. The gearbox of choice is GM’s 6L50 six-speed automatic, and there’s a full-time 4WD system with a locking center differential. Stopping power comes courtesy of massive 15-inch Brembos on all four corners, with six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston ones in the rear. The binders are hidden behind 20-inch wheels wearing custom 35-inch Bridgestone Dueler tires.

The suspension is no slouch either. Fox Racing coilovers with 2-inch shocks and 2.5-inch springs support the independent front and rear suspensions — though the lack of solid axles is sure to make purists balk — and also provide plenty of wheel travel (9 inches in front, 11 at the rear) and ground clearance (13 inches). HX also has impressive approach (56 degrees) and departure angles (51 degrees). It can handle a 60 percent grade, 40 percent side slope, and ford two feet of water while seating four. To protect important bits underneath, the HX is fitted with a full underbody armor kit. Other heavy duty off-road equipment includes front and rear recovery hooks and a power winch on the front bumper.

The gas engine powering the Vue Green Line 2 Mode will be GM’s high-feature, direct-injection 3.6-liter V-6 that has been working its way around the automaker’s lineup. In the conventional Vue, the engine makes 257 horsepower and 248 lb-ft of torque. Electric power comes from two 55 kilowatt electric motors integrated into the transmission. GM claims fuel economy for the Vue 2 Mode will be 50 percent better than that of the gas-only V-6 (which is rated at 16 city/22 highway) and that it will have a range of over 500 miles. The hybrid Vue’s 0-60 time is expected to be around 7.3 seconds, with maximum towing load pegged to 3500 pounds, according to the automaker.

Chassis adjustments to compensate for the Vue Green Line 2 Mode’s 189 pounds of extra heft include revised spring and stabilizer bar rates, along with recalibrated front struts and rear shock absorbers.

Not much is changing visually on the hybrid Vue. Of course, there are 2 Mode badges on the front doors and rear liftgate, and lightweight aluminum alloy rims shod with low-rolling resistance tires designed to further aid with fuel savings. Other subtle changes include chrome door handles, chrome dual exhaust tips and chrome skidplates front and rear. The tachometer is replaced by a fuel-efficiency gauge that also tells the driver when the vehicle is in electric-only mode, engine-only mode, or a combination of the two and serves as a reminder the vehicle is on even if the engine is off.

The Chrysler ecoVoyager Concept combines four-door, four-passenger functionality, wrapped in a sleek, elegant body. A one-box design is utilized to maximize space, and the vehicle runs on a 200kw lithium-ion battery pack in tandem with a small hydrogen fuel cell for additional range. Chrysler claims the ecoVoyager should produce a range of 300 miles using both electric and hydrogen power (40 miles on electric power alone) and of course, water vapor — the concept’s only exhaust. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph is dispatched in under eight seconds, according to Chrysler.

Dodge has designed its ZEO Concept as a sports wagon, featuring “2+2” seating that gives room for four passengers. Powered with what sound like the same 200kw lithium-ion batteries as the Chrysler ecoVoyager, the vehicle is electric only and boasts a range of at least 250 miles. Built for the enthusiast, the ZEO is obviously trying to show that eco-friendly doesn’t need to be dull. Now that the Magnum will be discontinued, could this car carry on the muscle-wagon theme for the 21st century?

The 2008 Jeep Renegade Concept clearly has sport on its mind. With a chopped-down, speedster-style windscreen, roll bar, convertible body style, and a hose-out, water-friendly interior, the Renegade Concept has been designed with a go-anywhere attitude. And of course, its lithium-ion battery combined with a small-displacement Bluetec diesel engine ensures that it stays true to the eco-theme. Emphasis has also been placed on light weight with the extensive use of aluminum in the concept’s construction. A range of 40 miles on pure electric power and combined electric/diesel fuel economy of 110 mpg are impressive figures — that is if they are actually attainable in a production version.

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